Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Just finished painting a 6mm dragon from Perfect Six Miniatures. It comes from their Order of the Dragon fantasy range and should have been the Black Dragon Ashmar. But I chose to paint it red. He, or perhaps she, (I'm unsure how to tell the sex of a dragon) works just as well in a dungeon crawl as a 28mm baby dragon.

Friday, October 21, 2016

I designed a new scenario for Wednesday game night: a multi-player Dawn Patrol scenario for Wings of War that will accommodate 3-6 players.

The Hun hiding in the clouds

Mission
Conduct a patrol of this sector of the front. Engage and destroy all enemy aeroplanes.

Gaming Area
The gaming area should be 90cm wide x 135cm deep. If using the WoW playing mats, this will give you 6 map edges. Allied patrols are over enemy territory and German patrols are over their own front line (no man’s land).

Forces
Each player has one scout. Alternatively for a longer game, each player has two scouts. Divide the players into two equal teams: Allies and Central Powers. If one team has fewer players, balance the game by giving them the most experienced players, or better aeroplanes or Ace skills or higher altitude.

Setup

Place two irregular-shaped clouds randomly on the playing area.

Each player determines randomly from which edge they enter. No two players can enter from the same edge.

Randomly determine one player whose scout enters the playing area.

Place the entering scout in the middle of the map edge. If using two scouts, place the first scout slightly in the lead and the second scout off the leader’s right wing and slightly behind. If using the optional altitude rule, all scouts enter with 3 pegs (altitude 2).

When entering, the first card planned must be a normal straight-ahead manoeuvre.card. The other players on the playing area manoeuvre as normal.

Repeat 3 to 5 each turn until all players have entered.

Game Length
The game ends when one side no longer has any aeroplanes remaining in the gaming area.Clouds
LOS is blocked firing into, out of or through a cloud. All firing must have a LOS to the target. Clouds do not move during the game, their speed relative to that of the aeroplanes being negligible.Victory Conditions
Shoot down or drive off all enemy aeroplanes.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The French advanced with their right flank and opened fire with their artillery on the Nassau light infantry in the woods causing them to retire.

The French light infantry take casualties covering the advance of the columns of line infantry.

The Nassau infantry in the woods, moves over to stop the advance, the Nassau light infantry retreated into the safety of the orchard and Wellington orders forward troops from the ridge to secure the orchard.

The French attack the Nassau infantry so as to clear the wood, while at the same time coming under heavy fire from the British infantry guarding the orchard.

The French take the woods causing the Nassau infantry to rout, but not without heavy losses from defending infantry fire. The Allies have occupied a good defensive position and caused serious casualties, so the advance on the French right flank grinds to a halt.

The French switch their attention to the Left Flank and start by advancing with their Light Infantry to drive the Hanoverian Jaegers out of the woods.

Columns of Line Infantry advance around the flanks of the woods to support the light infantry and approach Hougoumont itself.

Both the Jaegers and the supporting horse artillery take heavy losses but cling valiantly to the woods.

The French charge the horse artillery battery which inflicts heavy losses with canister before being captured.

The way was now clear to attack the Chateau, so the French columns charged, only to be blown away by the accurate fire of the British Guards defending Hougoumont supported by the remaining few Hanoverian Jaeger and flank fire from the infantry in the walled garden.

The Allies had now occupied a strong defensive position around Hougoumont, and the French were so weakened that the could no longer break into the Chateau.

The Result:
Wellington's troops still held Hougoumont with a strong force of Scots Guards in the Chateau itself. The French attack was stopped and had to be content with holding the woods, from which they could skirmish with the defenders. The French generals watched the massed heavy cavalry charges off to their right, in the sure knowledge that if the cavalry couldn't break the Allied squares, then the Old Guard would surely crush all resistance before it!

At Waterloo, Wellington had little choice but to occupy Hougoumont, for it would prevent the French from gaining the heart of the British position along the ridgeline. In fact, Wellington came close to losing the battle by undergarrisoning Hougoumont.

Opposite Hougoumont stood General Foy and Jerome Bonaparte with three divisions of the French II Corps. The initial attack began around 11:30 AM. The first assault met resistance, but the French infantry forced their way into the woods. As they came out on the other side, they were forced to fall back from the intense fire from the buildings and walled garden. The second assault gained a small lodgement, but the attackers again were driven back. A third attack breached the gate of the walled farm, and only the heroics of local Guards commander MacDonell and a small force succeeded in closing the gate and wiping out the attackers. Despite the success of the defenders, the crisis was not over yet, for Foy’s Division joined the attack around 1 PM and gained the orchard. The Scots Guards then counter attacked from the ridge and drove the French out of the orchard. The orchard was attacked again in the late afternoon, but the British had reinforced the position and the attack again failed. The battle for Hougoumont was all but over by 7 PM.